


temp title

by Icandigelvis



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat Ears, Cat/Human Hybrids, Filmmaking Business, Hollywood, Hurt/Comfort, Los Angeles, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 20:30:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8637076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icandigelvis/pseuds/Icandigelvis
Summary: Keith is a cynical, homeless cat living in the dirty blocks of Los Angeles. Lance, an also homeless but less cynical cat somehow manages to get them both a job at the set of "Lions and Robots 2" where the attractive Takashi Shirogane is directing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing humans with animal characteristics, but it's def something I enjoy reading! But what this au is, concerning that, it's basically just humans with cat ears and tails, and _some traits_. (There's some dogs too and other animals which isn't that important. ) And then there's humans. 
> 
> And both species are all either of the 3 ABO's. It's kinda rare for humans to be alphas or omegas tho. That's about it. You probably know the usual ABO rules if you're reading this. But I'll add, just in case:  
> The different sexes are Dominant Alpha (just think double alpha), Alpha, Beta and lastly Omegas. 
> 
> If you've read Aftermath you know the behaviour traits I've written about. But shortly it means someone of a specific sex can have a mutation where they emitt wrong pheromones, but it's rare. Lance, for example, is an omega but has beta behaviour, which means others might percieve him as a beta. If anyone is curious about more I'd love to explain otherwise I apologize for being nerdy about it.
> 
>  **TLDR; ******It's both omegaverse and humans with cat ears. So wild

Keith still could not believe they’d gotten in. He knew it was all thanks to Coran but when Lance ran up to him last night in the alley Keith hadn’t believed him for a good couple of minutes.

May, a beta redhead, had been sitting beside him on a bunch of stacked cardboard boxes, newspapers and whatnot, hissing in surprise when Lance jumped down from nowhere.

“I got us a job,” he had said, breath in his throat and light in his eyes. Keith had frowned at him, continuing to pick his tail clean from the damn spiky plant seeds that he caught himself in, _again_. May grunted something at Lance and got up to leave, hands in her pockets. It didn’t really matter to Keith either, they hadn’t actually been talking to each other.

“Keith, it’s a real job, I swear,” Lance continued, a light laugh leaving his voice. He sounded actually convinced. Keith looked up at him again, pouting with his lips. Sure, he could humor him.

“Okay, what is it?”

“Assistant and cleaner kind of, it’s listed as Additional Staff but we’ve got the evening hours. And guess where? Guess where!”

“Okay, okay,” Keith grunted, staring absently at Lance’s tail that stood straight in the air behind him, the teen clenching his fists in excitement. Keith sighed.

“Another pub?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“... A strip club?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, I give up.”

“You didn’t even try,” Lance said, still not faltering from his excitement. Keith was growing a bit irritated by this point. He and Lance weren’t exactly best buddies. Sure, he would consider him a friend even if he was pretty damn annoying as in fucking annoying all the god damn-

… Lance was cool. And either way, the guy got props for trying to befriend the cyical cat that was Keith. It had taken him some time but eventually Keith got around to enjoying Lance’s company. But if this “job” was actually just bullshit; that Lance was joking, that he hadn’t actually gotten them anything but gotten tricked, there were many possibilities. And Keith hated getting his hopes up in vain. Because the majority of the time he always ended up disappointed. About _anything_.

“It’s at Warner Bros,” Lance grinned.

“Fuck you,” Keith glared at him, turning around in his seat. He laid down on his side, knowing very well his tail was wagging in annoyance, for Lance to see. Just like he’d expected it was just a bad joke for Lance to laugh at Keith.

“I’m not kidding, I told you it was Coran-”

“Lance, I’m not in the fucking mood. Don’t come up-”

“I’m not kidding,” Lance drowned him out, voice raised. Keith glared at him over his shoulder, Lance now standing there with his arms crossed. His tail was waving back and forth behind him too; in frustration.

“I’ll show you, come on,” Lance continued, nodding to somewhere behind him. Keith stared down the alley. He really just wanted to nap for a bit, especially now that he got this spot for himself when May left. But with another look at Lance he sighed and got up, back cracking as he stretched.

So Lance got them a job. He actually did.

It was apparently Coran who’d gotten them hired, which made sense since he was the guy with a thousand connections. He owned a small private employment office and had known Lance’s family since he was just a kitten. When Lance’s mother passed away and his mafia member of a father disappeared Lance was forced to live on the streets, like many unfortunate cats. Keith had a not too different story himself, but while Lance had gotten homeless just a couple years ago Keith barely remembered his apartment he and his mother apparently had lived in. He always figured it was best that way. He might be a pessimist and quite salty but when the bad shit actually hit him he still stood strong.

Which was probably one of the reasons he had taken empathy for Lance who was still sometimes reminiscing his time with his mother and siblings. It wasn’t a happy end to her story, Keith knew that, so he didn’t ask more about it.

Then just half a year ago Lance finally got a spot at the omega shelter and Keith was genuinely happy for him. Keith had been in line too but because of his “bad behaviour” he was constantly tripping down the list, and the owner of this particular establishment didn’t exactly like him. So she could go screw herself, Keith didn’t need the shelter. When his heats showed up he’d either pay Roy at a place in the bunker or get himself taken to a hospital. He was homeless, he couldn’t pay. Hell, he wasn’t even registered so the hospital couldn’t do anything but nor could they throw him out.

Keith didn’t like stealing but he didn’t have much of a choice to do anything else… other than sell his body for sex. Which he still never had. And whenever the thought came up in his head and he passed the streets known for that sort of stuff he would see the greasy, stinking humans pull up in their cars and wave cat-girls and cat-boys inside. And Keith would be so disgusted with them. With himself too, for even contemplating it. He had fish to catch for free in the harbour, Mr. Jones always lent out one of his fishing rods if it wasn’t busy days. And Hunk always put out boxes of leftovers behind his restaurant. Again, this was a human Lance had introduced him too, and Hunk was kind, just like Lance. Keith often felt like he didn’t deserve it.

But this job, the job that Coran had gotten them. Keith was still baffled.

It was mid-day when Lance came and found him in the garage, Keith sitting around with a bunch of other cats, talking, smoking, doing nothing. Keith didn’t smoke, he didn’t like the taste, but he could appreciate the distant smell on others sometimes.

“Have you cleaned up?” Lance asked, eyeing him. Keith wanted to hiss at him but he knew Lance had a point.

“No,” he admitted, closing the garage door behind him. The sun was bright that day, the teen holding up his hand to cover his eyes.

“Well let’s start with that then. We have lots of time,” Lance said, grabbing Keith’s wrists and heading towards the omega shelter. Lance now had a permanent bed there, as permanent as a homeless shelter could be. But sometimes Keith sneaked inside through the broken window from the floor above, down the stairs and into Lance’s bed to sleep there with him. Keith didn’t like to do it, he didn’t want to rely on him too much but Lance said he always appreciated the company. Keith had only gotten caught once and he had immediately been thrown out. Lucky for Lance he got to keep his bed. Unlucky for Keith it had been raining that night.

Just as Lance had guessed the guard was at lunch break and Lance pushed in the code to the rooms, walking up the stairs to his corridor. The shelter was open during most days, but Keith was still kind of banned from the place. “Kind of” meaning it depended on the guard that spotted him inside the building.

Lance took out one of the charity shirts, a plain black, long-sleeved one and handed it to Keith together with a clean towel from a common cabinet. Keith didn’t like the showers at the shelter, they were almost always cold. It was just the beginning of autumn but yesterday and today had been rather warm, which meant less people took warm showers. So Keith got to enjoy a couple minutes of lukewarm water at least.

Lance was sitting and waiting outside, whistling when Keith appeared, smelling off the cheapest off-brand soap. But he felt clean nonetheless, so he gave Lance a small nod. The other cat smiled at him, grabbing his wrist again. Lance had a tendency to do that, to physically lead someone wherever it was they were headed. Keith didn’t mind, he just followed.

It took a bit more than half an hour to reach the film studios and Keith was still expecting Lance to yell “Got you!” any minute now. But he never did, and they walked inside the building to a reception, a woman behind the computer apparently finding them on some list and pointing them down the hall. Tourists were all over the place but not allowed where Lance and Keith were headed.

A sign read STAGE 5 which was the room the receptionist had pointed them too, and Lance pushed the door open while Keith stayed behind him, eyes wide and ears unknowingly flat against his head. Lance’s were standing straight in curiosity, twitching with every noise.

It was a huge room, a _massive_ room and while Keith had no idea what he had expected this surely wasn’t it. Lance had told him this was a movie which was finishing up in a couple months and they needed extra staff for various tasks towards the end. That’s all Keith got.

But this, the set, it had to be a damn blockbuster. Keith stared wide-eyed at a set made up of stone-buildings with windows and flower pots and a green screen towering behind it. Some people were standing around, no actual filming going on at the moment. They actual set was positioned kind of in the middle of the room and Keith couldn’t see too much from this far away. He was still in awe.

Keith didn’t even own a tv (which made sense since he didn't even own a bed) but the omega had seen some movies. Whenever there was an outside screening he would often be there, sitting in the trees with some other friends or lounging in the grass; it was always amazing. He loved movies; he couldn’t understand why some people said certain movies weren’t worth to watch. Keith would love to watch movies all the time, if he could, and even if he didn’t like a particular part or character, it was still great entertainment. And that one time Hunk had treated him and Lance to watch the last Harry Potter movie? Keith had been thrilled, marveling in the experience to watch it on such a big screen, sitting in a dark room. He even got to wear weird glasses that made everything seem like it was popping out of the screen! Keith got a bit motion sick half-ways through, he didn’t get any popcorn like everyone else in the room nor had he seen any of the other Harry Potter movies. But he absolutely loved it. It was easily the best thing that happened that year.

So to walk in to see a real-life set of whatever movie this was, Keith wasn’t exactly sure what to feel. He was… in awe.

Which was why he didn’t hear when someone cleared their voice to get his attention, nor did he budge when Lance tugged on his arm. The second time he got out of his dreaming and glared at Lance, jerking his hand out from his hold. The he noticed the woman standing in front of them.

“Hello,” she said, giving him an uncertain smile. She was a cat, just like him and Lance, and Keith wondered how she’d gotten such a nice job… whatever her job was. She was wearing suit pants and a white shirt, both which looked expensive. Just like the shining watch on her wrist.

“My name is Katie Holt but people call me Pidge. I’m liable and in charge of the extra staff, you’re Keith and Lance, right?” she asked, Lance nodding while Keith continued to stare at her.

“Nice to meet you,” she smiled, now holding out her hand to shake theirs. Keith simply mumbled his first name in a quiet voice while greeting her.

“Just Keith?” she asked, looking a little confused.

“Yeah,” he said, “You can add Smith if it’s for legal reasons.” He had no idea what his last name had actually been and since he wasn’t in the state’s register he couldn’t find anything there either.

“...Right,” she said, nodding slowly, clearly a bit suspicious but then straightened up.

“Well. You’re the first two here and we’re expecting about eight more people, so you can just have a seat over there,” she gestured towards the wall behind her where multiple plastic chairs were stacked in a row.

“They’re not filming today nor tomorrow which is the reason we can be here in the main stage room. But please, stay here and do not touch anything. It may be a bit silly but many have lost their job because they don’t listen to this one simple thing,” she smiled almost bitterly, before turning on her heels.

“If anyone shows up looking as confused as you two did when you arrived you can tell them to wait for me here, I’ll be right back,” she said over he shoulder while jogging away, in high heels, towards some doors.

“Sure,” Lance replied, taking a seat next to Keith.

Keith looked at him, absently sniffing Lance’s scent to ground himself a bit in the foreign place.

“It’s cool, isn’t it?” Lance asked, nodding towards the stage, scattered with the many screens, large lamps, scaffoldings and electrical stuff Keith had no idea what it did. And there were some massive cameras on platforms and rails, multiple cords attached to them and Keith felt incredibly overwhelmed. He thought Hunk’s phone took very good quality photos, but was this what they actually filmed the movies with?

“It’s big,” Keith replied, looking away from the set in the middle of the room to the chair beside him, a pile of shirts lying folded on it. They were plain black with big letters reading CREW on the back. Keith could read, it always took a while, but big letters were easy.

“Do you think we’ll get one of those?” he asked, nodding towards them and Lance hummed.

“Probably. So cool, right?” he repeated, Keith scoffing at him.

Sooner or later a couple more people showed up, not exactly eight but seven. Pidge concluded they should start when it was two minutes past the set time. She made a quick call in a weird, square phone on her belt, saying;

“Pidge here. The last extra staff isn’t here, if he shows up tell him he blew it. Over.”

A short beeping noise followed and Keith’s ears twitched in curiosity. He had never seen a phone like that.

“Copy that.” someone said into Pidge’s phone a second later, Keith looking at Lance, expecting an explanation.

“It’s a walkie talkie,” Lance whispered, the two standing in the back of the group. The name for the phone sounded ridiculous and Keith raised an eyebrow, wondering if Lance was fucking with him. He didn’t have time to ask before Pidge called for the group’s attention.

They did all get a shirt each, Lance’s a bit too big for him, before they started the tour. Pidge showed them around not only in this room but some parts of the particular building they were in as well.

They had a break room where one toilet was, and if they brought any food to microwave Pidge showed them the kitchen too. She opened a cupboard to gesture vaguely at some bread and whatnot that was free to take.

“Unfortunately we don’t have access to the buffet, which many for some reason seem to think. You’ve seen it in behind the scenes videos and stuff but we’re simply assistants and the lowest of the rank. The cleaners are even above us,” Pidge explained, Keith appreciating how she addressed them as a group, including herself even if she probably had higher status. She wore a suit after all.

“And this is the main stage again. The filming is most likely going to be entirely done at this stage, but they might move it to Stage 16… but that’s still only in discussion, and if we do I’ll tell you before time in email. Otherwise just check at the reception,” she explained, Keith happy for her last words. He didn’t have an email.

“Now, pay attention. I’ll go through the rules and these are very important,” she said, raising her voice, standing a bit taller on her toes.

“Do not, under any circumstances address or talk to the actors, directors, producers, cameramen or anyone who you think is important on your own accord. They talk to _you_ first, and _you_ listen. Get them coffee, get them food, run an errand to buy them whatever,” Pidge counted on her fingers, “it doesn’t matter; you do it. If you’re wondering about anything, you talk to me first. If you have to go somewhere, even the toilet, you talk to me first. If someone’s dying, you talk to me first. You get me?” she asked, everyone replying with a yes. Keith felt kind of overwhelmed, Pidge was going from nice cat-girl to stern military officer back and forth and he wasn’t exactly sure how to profile her.

“This is not a playground; this is a job. And while I of course want you to be happy I don’t care if you’re not. You do not disobey the rules or you can be fired, on the spot. It might sound harsh but that’s why you’re paid for the hour and this job _is_ temporarily. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” everyone replied again, Keith noticing he wasn’t the only one looking a bit scared. Then Pidge smiled, holding the folder she had been carrying the entire time to her chest.

“Then I’m sure we’ll have a great time together. Since you’re the evening group we’re gonna be working quite late and at night so be sure to take advantage of the coffee machines, which is basically the only thing free here,” she chuckled. “If you have any questions you can ask me now. Otherwise I’ll see you all on Monday at 5:00 PM,” she finished, grinning at the group. Keith awkwardly nodded and immediately followed after Lance as he turned to leave.

And just like that Keith suddenly had a job.

It was scary, in the beginning. He and Lance would stay close to Pidge because they were the only two of the extra staff group who didn’t have any phones. So if they actually wondered about something they had to ask her in person, compared to the others who called whenever they did something.

Everything was still very new but a week had passed without problem. It was Tuesday and Keith knew where most things were and which doors to go through now. A good sense of smell helped him with that, of course. Lance was still a lost case when it came to navigation and Keith had found him clueless in the hallway twice already. He was getting the hang of it but Keith was worried. If Lance got fired Keith would be left alone with all these strangers, the majority humans.

They had only gotten to see actual recording of the movie once. Keith still wasn’t sure if it was a serious recording, though, since one of the actors had been wearing a weird suit with balls everywhere. Maybe a test run? Because that surely couldn’t be the actual costume he was wearing in the movie.

Lance had informed him they were filming “Lions and Robots 2”, an action movie and follow up to a big hit from four years ago. Keith really wanted to watch the first one since his team often brought up the first movie during breaks. When Keith had gotten the question “What do you think, Keith?” he’d straight up replied that he hadn’t watched it. And the man had given him a weird look and then asked someone else.

Cats didn’t have as high social status as humans in today’s society. Whoever originally decided that was an asshole. Humans were mostly all betas but there were still alphas and omegas, just like cats and other animal hybrids. Keith tried to convince himself his ears and tail weren’t the reason his colleagues weren't talking to him and Lance, but he didn’t exactly succeed. _Himself_ he understood why people avoided; he was bad at conversing with humans in serious situations like this and would much rather hiss, which worked with cats. Tip; it doesn’t work with humans. They just frown or raise an eyebrow, clearly weirded out. It was like whatever cat-feature about the cats was weird, and should be hidden and concealed.

Fuck em, Keith thought as he swung his tail, glancing at Mark, one of the other extra staff members, both of them sweeping the floor after one of the smoke machines had broken apparently.

But from the breaks they had together Keith learned a bit about not only this movie but other movies the actors had worked on, the director had done and which movies were good or not. So many titles were thrown around and Keith wished he could write them all down to watch one day. There was apparently a movie with a bunch of spies, another one with a cat-girl and human boy falling in love and then many other fantasy ones. Yesterday Mark and one of the girls were even talking about a movie where you could go through a wardrobe into another world! Apparently a faun was scary in it, according to the girl. Keith wasn’t sure if Faun was an actor or maybe something movie-related he didn’t understand, like some kind of music.

And then that Friday, of the second week Keith and Lance had started working there, there was a real recording. The entire night the schedule was filled. One of the actors, or rather a stunt man, according to Pidge, had asked Keith directly for two large coffees and he had eagerly done the task. The stunt man had laughed at him, Keith not sure if it was in impress or mock, when he had come running with the paper mugs. But he had thanked him and then gone back to talking to someone else.

Keith felt proud and went back to clean the wheels for whatever they were used for, afterwards.

Lance was enjoying it too, he could tell, and even if they didn’t get to talk to each other much Keith was glad he was there with Lance.

And when the first pay check was delivered Keith felt so incredibly proud he cried. He was huddled inside one of the many abandoned tree houses many family homes had where the kids had grown up. It was raining outside and the small house, especially the one of Foster Street 42, was even kind of cozy. Keith had picked up his money at Western Union since he didn’t have a bank card nor did he have any ID. It was with the help of Pidge’s signature that he even was handed the money. And even though it had been a bit of a hassle Lance had to do the same thing. Pidge was slightly annoyed, he could tell, but didn’t question why the two cats didn’t have any ID nor bank cards.

So Keith sat with his little yellow, plastic envelope, looking at the new and unwrinkled dollars inside while the rain sang it’s song outside. And he couldn’t help but to cry, how proud he felt of himself. He still owed it to Lance and Coran, but he had spent that first week working, earning money for himself.

Lance insisted they should eat something nice but Keith was scared to spend even one of his precious dollar-bills. They felt like his own, like they were made only for him. Why should he trade them for anything? But his hungry stomach said otherwise and the two cats walked into Hunk’s restaurant; the front door this time, and ordered two plates of the spaghetti carbonara. Keith had never had it before, and he wasn’t sure he loved the taste, but it felt fantastic on his tongue and he loved the look on Lance’s face.

It took another week before the first person of their group got fired. It was Mark, who had apparently been leaking stuff online about what he saw on the scene. Pidge had told them early on that they weren’t even allowed to be present when the really “spoilery” scenes were being filmed but apparently Mark had done enough. Keith himself had gotten a bit more ground by now. He knew who most of the lead actors were and he recognized them, he knew who the director was and remembered many others of the crew. He wasn’t exactly sure what everyone did and was confused by the guy who held a black and white-striped board, slapping it closed in front of the camera constantly. Keith figured it meant they started filming but why did they do it like that?

“We’ve got 15 minutes,” Lance appeared by his side, Keith nodding and standing up to follow him. The cupboard with free food was mostly used by the two of them, Keith having finished an opened box of crackers inside already. It kept them from feeling hungry most of the times and Lance was excited every time someone left something new in the cupboard. He didn’t care that other staff looked down at them because of it.

And so time went on, as it does. Suddenly a month had passed and Keith had bought himself a pair of second hand shoes without any holes in them. They still felt a little tight on his toes but Lance convinced him it was only because he had to get used to them.

Keith felt grumpy when the new week started. He had no idea why but constantly felt uncomfortable doing whatever tasks were handed to him. He was roughly rubbing a steel railing clean, something Pidge had tasked him to do when he notized the ache in his hips. And then it dawned on him what was going on with his body and he wanted to groan out loud. He hadn’t been keeping track of time but it was only about two or three months since the last time. The only good thing about being sort of malnourished was that heats happened _less_ ; they lasted fewer days and sometimes barely at all. Keith theorized it was coming sooner than usual because he suddenly had a much more regulated diet. He didn’t feel as hungry anymore, the paycheck was only spent on food and the cupboard in the break room was constantly filled with leftovers.

Lance sniffed him dramatically at break and Keith huffed that yes, his heat was coming, shut up Lance. Lance nodded. He was an omega too and if Keith remembered correctly they were kind of synced up, Lance perhaps a bit later.

Keith would have to take time off work and he didn’t like that; he wanted to work and make money. Not spend time in a bunker or at the hospital in pain, frustration and unfulfilled horniness. Since he didn’t have an ID he couldn’t get suppressants, at least not legal ones anyway. And buying the real stuff illegally was way too expensive as it was incredibly risky for the seller. And buying home-made ones from the streets were dangerous.

Keith distractedly rubbed his back against the chair, glaring at the table in front of them.

He was back to work a couple minutes later, not being able to eat much at all. His pre-heat-hunger would set in three or four days before the heat actually started. For now he just felt emotional and uncomfortable. He knew his tail was twitching as he continued to clean off the paint from the rest of the stuff in the box, doing his job efficiently and silently but with a frown. The tasks at work weren’t usually very eventful but they were varying. And it was hard not to peek at the set whenever there was filming going on.

Keith finished up with the task and found Pidge who stood with her back to him, taking out a small flask from her jacket pocket. Then she noticed Keith. She stared at him with big eyes before she took a shot of whatever was in the flask, putting it back. Keith simply did a zipping-his-mouth-shut motion and she smiled at him, her eyes tired.

“I don’t have any more tasks so you can go ask the stylists if they need any help,” she said, taking out her touch pad from her belt. Keith stared at her for a bit, Pidge clearing her voice.

“It’s fine, I’m telling you to ask them,” she said and Keith nodded, turning towards the small corner of the room where he knew the make-up artists and costume sets were located. He was aware they had some caravans outside with most their stuff and he couldn’t honestly understand why they needed 10 types of the exact same outfit.

One bunny with crazy green hair and very extreme makeup sat tapping on her phone and Keith approached her because the other people were talking to each other. Back on the scene much wasn’t going on at the time. A group of men, he director among them, stood by a bunch of monitors, watching clips they’d filmed earlier that day.

“Do you need anything?” Keith asked, watching her long ears perk. She raised her head and looked at him, chewing on a pencil.

“No, we’re good here I think. I heard Takashi mumbling about coffee earlier so you should go ask him,” she said, going back to her phone and Keith blinked.

Takashi, that was the director, right? Was there someone else called Takashi?

“Who is Takashi?” Keith tried to casually ask and she looked up at him for a second again before falling into a laugh.

“Takashi Shirogane is the director, hun,” she said and Keith raised his shoulders in embarrassment.

“Yes,” was all he mumbled out before turning, stiff like a robot, and walking towards the group of important people in the middle of the room, by the set. He… probably wasn’t supposed to do this, even if she had told him to ask him and Pidge had said Keith should do what the bunny told him…

When Keith was within 20 metres of the men hunched over the screens and cameras he stopped. He stared at the director’s back. It said DIRECTOR on it so Keith knew who he was. Also some people called him Shiro so how was Keith supposed to know he was also called Takashi? Shiro had to be short for Shirogane.

The man was muscular, Keith had also noted that, and no one could deny the guy was attractive. He was wearing a cap as he did sometimes but Keith had seen his weirdly colored hair underneath too. He was a human but also an alpha, something Keith had picked up passing them a week or so ago. Again, it was rare for humans to be but it occurred.

Nonetheless Keith turned away from them, overwhelmed and not courageous enough to just jump between them all to ask if they wanted something. He started heading to where he knew Pidge was.

Then he heard someone call “Hey” behind him. Keith really hoped it wasn’t directed to him as he continued walking. A couple laughs followed and Keith twitched when he heard another “Hey” again, coming out as a chuckle that time.

He tried to absently turn around, hoping to Mother Nature that they weren’t calling for him and then he saw many sets of eyes on him.

Shit.

Keith awkwardly stumbled to turn fully around, eyes only falling on Takashi’s, the director looking back at him with… curiosity. Compared to the others who looked smug.

“Could you get us some coffee and the jar of sugar-free cookies,” a man, also wearing a cap, said, standing beside Takashi. Some of them had gone back to the screens, some not even turning around. But Keith blinked, looking back and forth from the man and Takashi. His eyes were…

“I think Joanne left them in the big break room,” the man continued and Keith straightened up.

“Of course,” he said, an octave higher than his usual voice and turned around again, heading directly for Pidge, walking as stiff like a robot. Since he had no idea about anything anymore and his pulse was fucking speeding too damn high he needed to console with her first. These were important people, and they had looked at him! And one of them had spoken to him!

“Pidge,” Keith hissed, still not daring to turn around if anyone of them was still looking at him. “One of the guys in a cap over by the TV:s wants me to get them coffee and sugar-free cookies from a big break room.”

“Okay,” she nodded, “Go get it then. It’s the big corridor and then- oh yeah, you need a badge. I’ll go with you,” she said, immediately putting down the papers she was reading through and headed for the hallway, Keith in tow.

“Did the stylist department not want anything? I was sure Meg was talking about some washing,” Pidge mumbled and Keith reddened further. He had only asked one lady. Maybe… maybe he would get fired now. He had already done wrong, hadn’t he?

“How many coffee did they say?” Pidge asked and Keith froze in his spot.

He hadn’t asked.

“They didn’t tell you? Ah, that’s fine. Let’s just bring the work table with one of the coffee pots,” she quickly assured him and Keith almost exhaled loudly in relief. He followed her into a room she accessed with the card around her neck, Keith marveling at a massive diner hall. Pidge immediately headed for the coffee tables in the corner and Keith was for the first time ever thankful for his lack of appetite today. Because the buffet table by the west wall was still available and two chefs were rummaging through the kitchen. And all that food…

The cat averted his eyes and spotted a red, plastic jar lying on a table. Keith narrowed his eyes at the weird text on the top, sure this text was called curvy or something. Because it was always a hassle to read.

“Is this it? Sugar free?” Keith asked, holding up the jar to Pidge who nodded, carrying over one of the coffee pots onto a small table with wheels. They loaded it with cups, milk and sugar and then took the elevator back down to the stage.

“If they don’t need anything else go find Lance and help him with the cords in the technical room,” Pidge informed him before going back to her papers, Keith nodding and continuing forwards with the tray.

There was some sort of weird feeling, deep in his gut. Sort of like anticipation. He had scented earlier that a couple of the important men were alphas, and perhaps that was the reason he was feeling uneasy walking up to them.

Keith didn’t have to clear his voice to get their attention because they heard the bumps of the wheels when he arrived, the omega avoiding anyone’s eye contact for more than a second. The director was eyeing him again, more intently than the others. Maybe he could smell his pre-heat, even from this far. Maybe he was a dominant alpha, one with possessive and authoritative characteristics.

“See? The cookies, Davis,” one of the men yelled, grabbing the jar and shaking it loudly. Keith suddenly wasn’t sure if he was supposed to pour the coffee for them or if they’d do that themselves. Was it rude to just leave?

“Aren’t you gonna serve us?” the same guy then asked and Keith looked up, face reddening. He had been about to sneak away but now walked back to the table, listening to the men laugh loudly. Keith looked at the cups uncertainty. He would have to ask every one of them if they wanted milk or sugar or both or just black-

“He’s just screwing with you,” a deep but kind voice said, a shiver running over Keith’s skin as if he was hit with electricity. A hand appearing in front of his to grab a paper mug and the omega pulled his own back. Keith looked up, meeting Takashi’s eyes. They were a faded brown, maybe even grey, and the look was very… domineering. Keith stared at him before catching himself, straightening up and nodding. Then he quickly fled the scene, running to find Lance, aka safety.

He had to shake himself out of the weird feeling, knowing it was just his emotions at this time of the year acting up. Perhaps the director actually was a dominant alpha, which would also explain Keith’s reaction to him. Yes, that had to be it.

It took only two days before Keith spoke to Takashi again. Or rather, Takashi spoke to Keith. The cat was busy wet-cleaning the main floor where the driven mop-machine couldn’t reach. Which meant basically _everywhere_ since stuff was spread _everywhere_.

“Hey, you. Yeah, you,” a lady’s voice called and Keith looked up at her.

“Bradley spilled coffee or something in Shirogane’s office, they asked for a cleaner,” she explained before jogging away. Keith blinked, looking around. He knew Pidge was away for an errand and wouldn’t be back for a while. She had simply said “do what people say and if you have questions think rationally” and that was it. And of course _now_ Keith got a command he was unsure about.

He was getting a bit antsy too, because of more heat symptoms. He had treated himself with the cheapest brand of painkillers from a real drug store which helped a lot. It was like magic. But Keith could feel that they were running off now. The box had said 8 hours and about that much had passed since he took the second one. And the box said cats should only take two a day; Keith wasn’t going to take more no matter how tempting it was. He was planning to inform Pidge this evening that he would need time off. Maybe she’d already smelled it on him, he still needed to tell her in advance.

He gathered his bucket and mop, at least already prepared for some kind of clean up, and headed the way the lady came. Keith had only been in this particular hallway two times before and he had to concentrate to read the text by the elevator. Office 4 had DIRECTOR AND MANAGEMENT written after it so Keith hoped it was correct. Now, he hated elevators but the bucket thing was on wheels and he couldn’t very well carry that up the stairs. Keith clenched his teeth as he pressed the buttons hard and stepped inside.

Floor 4 was completely silent, Keith stepping out from the elevator to look around, wondering if he was in the wrong place. He almost expected Pidge jumping out with a “You’re fired!” or someone seeing him and scolding him for being somewhere he wasn’t supposed to. It was late, almost midnight and many had already gone home.

Two men came walking down the hallway, talking about lights it sounded like and passed Keith without much of a glance at him. Keith continued with his bucket and mop, slowly reading all the signs the doors had. When he reached the end of the hallway he spotted a room with a window-wall. Keith grew both relieved and tense from seeing Shiro sitting inside. He was behind a large desk, staring at a computer in front of him while one man leaned against the desk, yelling something as he slammed papers again it. The room was completely soundproof and Keith couldn’t hear them at all, only watch. Two other men and a lady were seated in a small set of expensive looking chairs and Keith stood still in the hallway, wondering if he was supposed to knock, just enter or wait.

He resulted in waiting until one of the men in the chair turned and did a double take, meeting his eyes. He said something to the others who looked up at well, the man standing up to unlock the door, holding it open for Keith. Thank God he hadn’t tried to tug on the handle then. Maybe he would’ve set off some alarm or something.

No one said anything to him and Keith immediately spotted the big pool on the floor. The liquid was also spilled onto a leather chair, luckily on the other side of the office. Keith was relieved he didn’t have to bother the others as he started cleaning it up.

“It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to, find a way to convince him,” the man leaning against the desk said, slamming his papers again.

“I’ve tried, Henrik, he’s refusing. Three times now-” the lady in the chair said.

“Then try harder!” he yelled, Keith’s shoulder twitching with the sound as it echoed in the room. It was silent behind him and Keith ignored the want to turn around and look at them, to see what they were expressing on their faces after this Henrik’s outburst.

“Please, Emma,” a calmer voice then said, Keith immediately recognizing it as Takashi’s. “Try again, keep raising the number until 60-”

“But,” a gruff voice appeared, probably one of the men in the chairs.

“Until 60,” Takashi repeated with a more stern voice, “If he blocks your number or denies even that you come to me, alright?” he asked.

“Yes sir,” the woman replied, Keith hearing the sound of squeaking coming from the chairs.

“This is all on you if we lose Jonathan,” Henrik said before Keith heard the door opening, feet shuffling outside. The click of the door closing almost echoed in the room and Keith wondered if they all had left, his eyes staring at the cloth in his hand. With a quick glance behind him he noticed Takashi still sitting behind his desk, chin resting on his tied hands, eyes on him. Keith quickly turned back at his job.

The damn chair was shiny clean now and so was the floor but Keith continued to rub a spot in the leather. He was pretty sure it wasn’t even removable.

Why was he staying?

“God, money is so stupid, isn’t it,” Takashi sighed behind him and Keith slowly stood up, putting his mop and cloth back in the bucket, drying his hands on his pants.

“It makes the world go around,” Keith carefully replied.

“Yeah, but it’s still got so much power over us. It’s the only thing that matters,” the director said, rubbing his hair. Keith watched his form hunched over the desk, the shirt a bit tight over his back. He looked exhausted.

“Are you okay?” was all Keith came up with to reply, his voice almost a whisper. He somehow didn’t want to disturb the silence of the room. The walls were a soft yellow and the lights not too bright, if felt nice, somehow.

The director chuckled for a second, looking back up at Keith. There they were again, his intimidating eyes.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. It happens to us humans…” he said, then frowned at himself, “-or uh, I mean, you too, us…” he stumbled over the words.

“-people,” Keith filled in for him with a smile, standing there with the mop in his hand.

The director looked up at him, nodding slowly.

“Yeah.”

Keith still wasn’t quite sure how he ended up in the director’s car just an hour later. He had stayed inside the office, cleaning various things like the bookshelf, the desk, the small table since Takashi, who insisted on being called Shiro, continued talking to him. And even when Keith heard the chair moving behind him he didn’t move to leave. He knew it was Shiro behind him. And when the hands appeared on Keith’s hips the omega couldn't help but to tilt his head to side, to give him access.

Now, if it was anything Keith’s cat buddies all preached together in chorus, himself included, it was ‘Don’t trust the humans’. Don’t fall for their tricks, don’t let them play you. Don’t let them seduce you and promise you money or pride. Or love. Don’t let them fool you.

Keith threw all of that, years of strong belief in his head, straight out the window. The moment Shiro’s lips were on his his neck, tasting, breathing on his skin as he very gently put his teeth around it, Keith was fucked. He shakily breathed out, loudly into the otherwise silent room and the director hummed behind him.

It was overwhelming and it had happened so fast. Just like that. He had a vague idea when he entered the room, but it was just a fantasy, a “what if” thought in the back of his head. His pulse had quickened, his heart not listening to the last part of his mind that told him to pull away, run outside, flee. Instead he instinctively curled his tail around Shiro’s leg, falling back against his incredibly warm body, forgetting all about who the man was. Who he himself was.

“Tell me to stop and I will.”

He heard Shiro speak the words and Keith replied by raising a hand behind him, grabbing the alpha’s hair to push him closer to his neck. It was a sort of reflective action when he heard the word stop but the dominant growl he got in reply to the move had Keith going up on his toes.

“Will you let me come home with you, then? So I can have a reason to be out of work for a week?” Shiro asked, mouth muffled halfway by his tongue coming out to lick the omega’s skin. Keith’s breath hitched from his words. Shiro’s pheromones were all around him like a thick mist, demanding, defiling, dominating. _Alpha, alpha, alpha._

“Your place,” Keith mumbled and that was that. Just a couple minutes later he was on his back in the backseat of a car, Shiro above him, kissing him. Keith actually hated cars; he had a fear of riding them but suddenly he didn’t care. Right now he didn’t give a fuck.

He could feel his heat now, the last magic of the painkillers having faded away. Hell, he wasn’t exactly sure but he was maybe-kind-of-surely-probably-most-likely even leaking down there. It would explain why Shiro had jumped him.

The car-ride itself was all a haze, suddenly he was inside the warm car then he was not. The driver must’ve dropped them off at Shiro’s house because Keith was himself enough to stare wide-eyed at the gates. He couldn’t even see the house yet but the gate itself was gorgeous and tall, the white stone engraved with details of beautiful patterns. The top was an electrical fence, he noted. And then the metal doors opened in front of them.

A gravel road trailed up to the massive house, Keith hanging onto Shiro as he led them up to the door. It was large that as well, of course, and Keith watched as Shiro unlocked it with some keys, pushing it open.

To say Keith was overwhelmed was an understatement. Under his cheap shoes was a shiny, white floor, hard as stone. The walls were white, furniture was dark and plants and art were specks of color in the hallway. A massive chandelier hung in the ceiling and Keith looked up, eyes stuck to it as he felt something clump in his chest.

It was all so spotless, so perfect and expensive and Keith slowly looked down at his shoes on the floor. He knew he should feel like it was unfair but instead he fell the opposite way, feeling disgusted with himself. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he was a liar and deceiver for tricking the kind Shiro to bring him here. He was a homeless cat lounging the sad, depressing, grey blocks by day. What was he doing here?

“Keith?” a voice asked him, getting the omega’s attention. Keith looked at him with somber eyes, head still tilted back from memorizing the beautiful gold that the chandelier was painted in, along with it’s many, thousands of crystals.

“How did you learn my name?” the cat asked after a moment, collecting himself.

“Because you told me,” Shiro said, voice collected and comforting, the human tilting his head slightly. Keith looking at him. He fitted so well in here, his brand shirt, beautiful eyes, perfect skin. He had dark circles under his eyes and a stubble that felt rough against Keith’s chin when he kissed him. But that was okay.

“Oh,” Keith replied, eyes now stuck to his lips. So when Shiro leaned down, asking for permission to kiss him again Keith went with instincts and ignored his worries. Those could be for tomorrow.

And when Shiro carried him up some stairs Keith didn’t look, he hid his face against the man’s neck, bathing in the strong scents, getting high off them. His mind grew foggier and his body sent out with his own pheromones in reply to Shiro’s, the alpha huffing above him. Keith could feel the warmth of him, the strong muscles under his clothes and the bulge in his pants.

He wanted more, didn’t want any of it to go away so his claws grew, digging into the alpha’s back. Not enough to draw blood but damn close, the human growling in reply as he finally set him on something soft; a bed. An enormous bed.

“It’s a heat-proofed room. It’s used as a guest room but… it’s okay, right?” the alpha asked, Keith briefly glancing around. This was a guest room? Sure made him curious how the master bedroom looked.

The omega slowly released his claws from Shiro’s shirt, clearly having created holes in it, and dropped his arms to the bed. He felt his skin meet the fabric he was lying on, staring at the rose colour, the sheet so incredibly soft.

“What’s this?” Keith asked in curiosity, fingertips carefully grabbing the fabric; it was so smooth but also kind of cold to the touch.

“Silk? I presume,” Shiro replied, sounding a bit confused. Keith slowly nodded. He had never heard that word before.

He felt cold, uncomfortable by all the new and strange smells and leaned into Shiro’s arm where the alpha was hovering over him. He pressed his nose against his skin, looking up to meet his eyes. It clearly did something to the other whose eyes seemed to darken, Shiro leaning down to nose at his neck.

He was sort of forceful with it, but not necessarily in a bad way. Not careful like Keith, but just nudged under his jaw for the omega to give him more access, taking it.

When one of his hands moved to the bottom of Keith’s shirt the cat suddenly tensed up, gasping a little as the alpha trailed his fingers up his naked skin. Shiro moved up his cheek, nosing at his skin in an affectionate way, reaching his cat ears at the top of his head. He very gently scented them, Keith having opened his big eyes to watch him, only catching eye of his chest above him, blocking out the light in the room.

Then Shiro continued raising his shirt and Keith didn’t do more than help him remove it, feeling incredibly naked in the room nonetheless. He hugged his arms around his chest, watching Shiro stare at him, eyes passing over him. The alpha scooted down the bed, hands gripping tightly on his pants, starting to tug them down. Keith was so damn happy he had decided to shower that day, but he didn’t wear any underwear. Hopefully Shiro didn’t frown at that.

Keith hissed in surprise when he felt the tug on his tail, watching Shiro’s eyes widen, the man looking like he didn’t know Keith could hiss. Maybe he didn’t.

The cat grunted in slight annoyance at the thought and took advantage of Shiro’s surprise to roll over on his stomach, unbuttoning the two buttons of the jeans above his tail.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said when Keith turned back over, now tugging down his jeans himself, wiggling out of them.

“Don’t worry,” was all Keith replied, staring at his naked knees when he kicked his pants off, legs still between Shiro’s.

He was still wearing his socks and shoes, moving a hand down to cup his privates as he looked up at the human, waiting. The ounce of confidence he got from the ignorance the human showed a second ago was gone, like he forgot Keith was a cat even though his ears were there and very prominent. But now he was back to being the omega in heat, the homeless piece of poor piss in a millionaire's house.

“You’re very beautiful, Keith,” Shiro then said, a gracious smile falling onto his lips as he spoke with such rich honesty Keith exhaled in defeat. Slowly removing his thin arms covering himself he reached up to wrap them around the alpha’s neck; in surrender.

Shiro leaned down, taking what Keith offered. He was powerful, dominant as he kissed and tasted Keith where he wanted, took what was now his.

Keith relaxed back into the heavenly soft sheets, he couldn’t remember what the material was called but it was definitely his new favorite thing. Maybe there was clothes made of it.

He watched with hooded eyes as the alpha sat back on his knees, looking straight at Keith as he unbuttoned his own shirt to pull it off. Keith couldn’t hold the gaze, however, when more of the alpha’s skin was revealed. The omega sort of wanted to sit up and feel it with his hands but he was feeling exhausted already, hands only reaching down to tug at the pants the alpha was wearing.

Come on already.

Shiro listened to what Keith was begging for, quickly backing off the bed to stand on the floor. Keith unknowingly licked his lips when he watched the human unbuckle and remove his belt. His beige pants fell down to the floor and Keith shamelessly stared at the tight black underwear.

“Are you on birth control?” Shiro asked, crawling over him again, his tan skin reflecting in the soft lamp in the corner of the room.

 _‘Don’t remember,_ ’ echoed loudly in Keith’s mind on reflex.

“Yes,” Keith lied, his hair spread out on the pillow under him. He didn’t take any pills or shots but that didn’t matter. Not for him. They’d informed him about his infertility the first time he was sent to the hospital, at his first heat.

 _‘Don’t remember,_ ’ he repeated.

“You okay?” Shiro brought him out of his thoughts, his voice soft. Keith blinked at him, suddenly realizing he must’ve put on ‘that look’ or-

 _‘It doesn’t matter._ ’ Keith exhaled through his nose, ignoring the thoughts, pulling Shiro against him again, asking the alpha to occupy his head.

“I’m okay,” Keith nodded, both to Shiro and himself. He wasn’t sure if he fully convinced the other but he surely distracted him with his mouth.

The alpha eventually rolled him on his stomach, tugging the sheets away under them. Keith placed his hands flat against the white sheets, trying to calm his raging heart. He didn’t want to be sober, to question this and be on edge, knowing very well he could run away at any moment. Inside his head there was war and his eyes flickered all over the place.

He’d never done this, not with an alpha. Never. He was crazy, why was he doing this? Why was he suddenly now committing to this stranger, on his hands and knees in front of him. Keith stared wide-eyed at the covers, a feeling of lost hitting him. His skin was cold where Shiro wasn’t touching him.

‘ _Stop acting like a child, grow up,’_ he repeated to himself in his head. His legs were shaking, he could tell. Shiro wasn’t touching him anymore. It was silent.

‘ _Stop panicking, you pathetic fuck. You wanted this, you can’t fucking freak out now-’_

Keith couched in shock before inhaling loudly, falling to the bed, fast enough to not catch himself. He couldn’t even push himself up on his weak arms, his lips pressing tightly together as he watched his eyesight grow blurry.

_‘You’re a fucking slut, a miserable, pitiful sad fuck. You’re worthless and disgusting-’_

His hands were shaking violently, his eyes blinking away the tears so he could stare at his left fingers in front of him. He was so cold, so incredibly cold.

“Keith, shh,” Shiro hushed above him, warm hand falling on his back.

Keith listened. He heard him but he couldn’t reply, if he opened his mouth he wouldn’t be able to get any words out anyway.

A soft sigh was heard from Shiro and the alpha moved from the bed. Keith shut his eyes hard, lying helpless in the position he fell in, left alone. He wished he could hug himself or pull up the sheets, but he couldn’t move. He just watched his fingers tremble, blinking hastily to remove the tears to even see anything. He knew he was cramping up, his body in shock.

Breathe, remember to breathe, he told himself in the mess of it all.

Shiro had left him there, given up on the omega. Keith’s eyes moved over the wall, lip trembling as he focused so hard on not crying out. His eyes were wet and so was the white, no longer clean sheets under him. He tried to focus on something, the edge of a dresser, the golden knobs on it.

The light went dark around him as Shiro turned off the lights with a click. It somehow was all left for Keith because his lips came apart as he broke down and wailed loudly, emotions taking over his body. As he did his body relaxed, muscles aching and tired as Keith pathetically rolled over to his side, arms around himself.

He jumped when he suddenly felt a hand on his arm again, the bed dipping. His voice quieted as Shiro collected him into his arms, resting his chin on top of Keith’s head, right between his ears. And then he hummed, the sound catching Keith’s attention. He was sure he had left.

Then he heard the tune and the cat blinked, listening intently as he carefully reached up and placed his fingers against Shiro’s two strong arms, both wrapped around Keith.

Slowly the omega’s eyelids started fluttering close, Keith memorizing the melody Shiro was singing above him. He was warm. It was all Keith could focus on. He couldn’t even hear the soft purring he started emitting himself a couple seconds before falling asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Next chapter shouldn't take too long.
> 
> This was originally a Shklance idea in my head but I'm feeling like this story could go either two ways. So I'll leave the choice to you! Do you want Sheith or Shklance? I don't mind either, so it's your pick :*
> 
> Ps. If you read the title and heard the song play in your head the one I listened to while writing this might be a different version. Look up the one by Ursine Vulpine/ Annaca, it's absolutely stunning.


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